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Sunday, September 8, 2019

Proper heading structure not only helps to make content
accessible, it also helps to make content better for everyone.

Here's why content is better with headings

Structure

Headings allow those visiting your content to
see the structure more easily. It allows screen readers to identify the
structure and read it aloud.

Table of Contents

When you create proper heading structure, it
automatically generates a table of contents that you can insert into your
document.

Outline

When you use heading structure, in Google docs,
it creates a handy, dandy outline view in your document.

Hyperlinks

In Google docs, every heading has its own
hyperlink. This makes it super easy to link someone to a specific section of
your content.

This is what happens in Google Docs when using headings.

Heading basics

Heading 1

Heading 1 is the heading for the page. It often
is also the title of the page and tells users what the page is about.

Heading 2

Heading 2 helps organize content into
sections.

Heading 3 and beyond

Heading 3 down to heading 6 are subsections of
the prior heading. A subsection of heading 2 would be heading 3. A subsection
of heading 3 is heading 4. This goes all the way to heading 6.

It’s important to keep your headings in
chronological order. Never skip a heading.

Learn more about accessible content

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines provide
detailed information on how to create accessible content in a number of ways. Visit the guidelines to learn more about the guidelines in general or headings in particular.

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Innovative educators often use print documents. This may occur when displaying posters, student work, or infographics on a wall or bulletin board. Another common reason for print is when information is handed out, mailed, or back packed home to families. Usually this material is not accessible to all people including those with disabilities or who speak languages other than English, but it doesn't have to be that way.

Making Print Documents Accessible

People who need assistive technology to read materials--whether because of a disability or because of their needs for translation--have to have digital versions to use with their assistive technology. For that reason, whenever you create something that's “for print,” you must:

Host a digitally, accessible copy of print documents somewhere such as on your website.

Include a link to this document, or the website where it is hosted, on the printout you provide.

Formatting

The way you format a print document also affects how accessible it is. Consider creating a large print version of the content. This requires the document use:

Use large print with at least 18 point font

Use a sanserif font like Arial or Calibri

Use high contrast of at least 4:5:1

QR Codes

QR Codes are one way for people with disabilities to get from a printout to an equivalent web page.

Inaccessible Digital Platforms

There are still many digital platforms that are lagging behind in their ability to make accessible content. This is particularly true for publishing platforms that create content like brochures, flyers, and infographics.

Alternative Digital Content

The best option is always to generate original content on an accessible platform. If that is not possible, you must provide an alternate, accessible version of the content. This can be:

An accessible Word or Excel document

An accessible Google document

A webpage which contains all of the information provided by the inaccessible platform

Your Turn

What do you think? Is this something you have tried or would try? Do you have other ideas for making print material accessible? Anything missing?

Sunday, August 25, 2019

Haben: The Deafblind Woman Who Conquered Harvard Law

Five Star Review!

I was blown by the wisdom, fearlessness, and insights of Haben Girma. After hearing her speak, then meeting her at an Accessibility Expo hosted by the New York City Department of Education, I couldn't wait to read her book.After spending a day devouring this book, my advice as a seasoned educator and administrator to every educator, parent, abled person, and person with (or knows someone with) a disability is this: Read this book! I've learned more from this one book than any class I took in all my years of education. Since reading it, I have continuously drawn from the important, first-hand advice and insights that will benefit educators and the students and parents they serve.

This book is is eye-opening, enlightening, and incredibly innovative. The way Haben figures out ways to use technology for learning, connecting, and communicating is fascinating and creative. Parents and educators will be inspired to empower the youth they work with and/or raise and love, to do the same.

Get this book and get smarter with insights and wisdom from Haben Girma.

Tuesday, August 20, 2019

Forget inbox zero. For most, that's not practical these days. Unfortunately, today, much of what gets to email is junk, other, clutter, and/or spam. With hundreds or thousands of emails piling in, they're also, frankly difficult to keep track of. Also, more and more email providers are starting to charge you for email once your accounts begin to bloat with all this junk you will be asked to fork over a monthly fee. What's more, email is on the road to being considered personally identified information. That means email directories or lists may be a problem because they are, or could be, violating general protection data regulations.So what is the future of communication?

Online communities

Personal communication

It's not texting. By design, texting often doesn't work well across platforms. It's also not the best format for organizing, sharing, planning and more. The other issue is that you must have the phone number of the others you are communicating with. Another personally identifiable information issue. While there are some text platforms people can join with an invite code, these still are not the most popular.

While platforms can and will change, love it or hate it, for personal life, right now, Facebook is winning. Groups partnered with messaging beats the alternative. Phone, email, or other sharing is not required. Instead just tell someone to connect with you in the group.

Professional communication

For professional communication you've got Facebook Workplace, Slack, and Teams. No more need to share your email or phone. Instead you just share with others how to link up with you in the appropriate platform. Once you're in platform, you don't have to worry about the email related issues. Most have the ability to phone or video conference. What's best is that the junk/spam is generally handled well by moderators and community members.

The Death of Email

It is becoming harder and harder to track, keep up with, sort, and stay on top of the few priority emails that come through. Email is evolving toward the point of extinction and that's okay. Change is hard, but the time has come for us all to evolve towards the newer and more effective online community method of communication.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

We all work with someone suffering from an attachment disorder. You know that person. Despite the fact that you've sent them a link to a perfectly good collaborative document, they've taken the liberty to disconnect from the original document. They’ve copied and pasted your document into Word. Tracked changes. Then, they've arrogantly sent it back to the group as an attachment. Meanwhile, by the time they've done this, the original, collaborative document already had oodles of updates and edits from other team members.

Lack of understanding

However, people with attachment disorders don't understand this. They may not even care. They just tell you to look at their version and integrate any changes. They don't get that their version is like so ten versions ago. They missed all the comments, updates, and banter on the collaborative version. They've just made a lot more work for you, and, it is quite likely that they aren't the only one with attachment disorder.

It’s not unusual for another old-school colleague to also have attachment disorder. They did the same thing sending their new version to you as well.

Now you have three versions of the document, even though you intentionally were using a collaborative document to avoid version control issues and thus extra work for everyone.

You’re just wasting your time if you try pleading with those suffering from attachment disorder to go to update the original collaborative document. Without an intervention and extensive treatment, they just can't. Attachment issues are serious to the person who has an aversion to connecting and collaborating with others.

Attachment issues

People with attachment disorder often have control issues. Version control that is. Their version is the version everyone must be beholden to. There is no regard for the desire to have one version. They may have anger problems. They sent you their version. Take it or leave it. They just feel more comfortable working the way they do, so deal with it. They may have difficulty showing genuine care for other people's time. Working this way is easier for them, so everyone else must accommodate that. They also may have an underdeveloped conscience, failing to show guilt, regret, or remorse about not collaborating and making more work for others. It’s not their problem. It’s yours. So get over it.

Treatment

Left unresolved, attachment disorders can interfere with workplace productivity. It is important to provide treatment. Unfortunately, those with attachment issues may be resistant. Treatment usually involves many people on a team or project taking a stand together and refusing to accept attachments. It will take training and explaining to get those suffering from attachment disorder to understand the benefits of collaboration, a single source of truth, and the value of one version only. It may be confusing to this person at first, but with consistency and a commitment to collaboration, colleagues usually will start to see progress. The key is not to back down. Standing firm in your rejection of attachments will ultimately result in a more efficient and effective workplace for everyone.

I had the opportunity to meet Amanda's students as they were planning an
exhibit to be displayed where I work. We discussed some ideas for displaying
art in a way that is accessible. This was an exciting concept for them. As I
began speaking, they pulled out their notepads and started taking down ideas
about how people with disabilities might access the art they displayed. Below
are some of the ideas we discussed and more.

Ideas for making
art more accessible

QR Codes

QR Codes
are a simple way to begin making art accessible. The QR code can link to a
digital space where the piece can be more accessible in a variety of ways. The
artist may describe her piece. Others may describe the art. People can respond
to questions about the art. A QR code makes the art accessible to those with
disabilities and also adds another useful layer for any aesthete.

Tactile Art

Having the option to listen to an audio
description of art is quite useful for anyone who wants it. However, someone
experiencing a piece of art may want to interpret it for themselves.

Unfortunately, too often the mantra when it
comes to art is: Look, but don’t touch.

Fortunately, more and more artists are realizing there is more to art than what
meets the eye. What meets the hands and fingers, can add a whole other
experience to art that might be crucial for those with visual needs and helpful
for everyone.

Textured Paint: You can take existing art or create new art by layering
paint to make it a more tactile experience. John
Bramblitt is an artist who
uses and has popularized this technique. He lost his eyesight due to
complications with epilepsy and Lyme disease. Painting by touch is the way
he can create art that appeals to the touch and the sight of fans who
appreciate his work. Using texture is a low-tech way to give a vision of
an art piece to a person who is blind.

You don’t have to go to 3DPhotoWorks for 3 dimensional art though. Now
that more and more schools have access to 3D printers, students can use
their creativity to make 3D printed art.

Multi-Sensory Objects: Art with multi-sensory objects invites art lovers to
interact with and touch the art. You can use objects to create new art or
add to existing art. Here’s a fun sticky collage art project.

Olfactory Art

How about adding the
sense of smell to your art? Olfactory art is a technique used by some
artists. Be creative and near that art have a jar of goodies that give the art
a taste too. Perhaps the aromatic scent comes from a perfume or an essential
oil. You could provide a coupon or coupon code to where fans could purchase
that which provides the featured scent.

Your Turn

What do you think? Are
these some ideas you can see your students incorporating into their projects?
Which do you like best? Are there other ways you have seen or can think of
making art accessible?

Why we should avoid the term
special needs

Girma explained the reason terms like "special needs" or "differently abled" should not be used is because every child (and every person) has special needs. It is
not necessary to classify these needs differently when we are speaking about
someone with a disability.

All student needs
are special

To create a more inclusive classroom
environment, the teacher may want to explain that all her students are special
to her. That she wants to meet all their needs. Then, instead of only
acknowledging the needs of those with disabilities, a teacher might ask all
students to share their special needs. These needs could be placed on post its
anonymously, displayed on a board, and the class can discuss what their special
needs are for learning most effectively.

If the teacher and students feel it will be
beneficial, they might want to acknowledge who has which needs and put their
name next to the post it. This enables us to acknowledge the needs each of us
has to learn most effectively.

The way this would be set up is in a grid with
the needs along the left column and student names across the top (or the
reverse). A student can put an “X” in the boxes under his name indicating
the special needs he would like met in this class.If the teacher wanted to do this anonymously, she could assign aliases to her students.

Teachers have
special needs too

The teacher could start out by naming some of
her needs. For example, here are some of mine:

To learn most effectively, I need to…

have access to a computer

have access to high-speed internet

be involved with content that matters to me

be able to move from sitting to standing to moving

have a clear role

be given slides and transcripts of presentations in advance

have
a quiet place to work without the distraction of others

It is important that we don’t view the special
needs of each of our students as something that is lazy or cheating. If we can
provide access, to one learner, we should provide it to all whom feel it would
support their ability to learn as effectively as possible.

Check out her six tips and consider how you can integrate them into your classroom this year.

6 tips for creating a more accessible and inclusive classroom

Multiple Formats

Use as many formats as possible to help students learn. The more formats you use; the more students you will reach.

Assumptions

Don’t make assumptions. Girma had teachers who assumed because she was blind she could not use computers or do art. She loves computers and they support accessibility. She also enjoys creating art. Rather than assume what a student can or can’t do, and before excusing them from an activity, start by trying to figure out how a topic can be made accessible. Speak to the student, other students, colleagues, and experts.

Role Models

Hire teachers with disabilities. Bring in speakers with disabilities. Have students with disabilities share ways they learn and live in this world.

Accessible Digital Content

All content you share with students should follow the web content accessibility guidelines. This enables students with disabilities, those who are not fluent in English, and everyone else, access content more effectively.

You can prepare for the conversation by thinking about answers to these questions:

Q1-Did you get there early enough to hear the amazing @jasontoddgreen, @NYCCalise from @NYCDisabilities and @DOEChancellor speak? What is your one take away from what they shared with us? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q2-Tag one session you attended and how it will help you in the upcoming school year. #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q3-What track (i.e. accessibility & inclusion, gaming, digital literacy) did you most closely follow and how did you find what you learned helpful? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q4-What was your favorite swag item? Share a photo of it. What do you suggest vendors give away? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q5-What vendor was the most helpful for you to connect with? Why? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Q6-The day is all about connections. Who did you connect with and how did it make your day better? #NYCSchoolsTechChat

Sunday, July 28, 2019

The #NYCSchoolsTech Summit
is the largest annual #EdTech conference in New York City. At the conference
innovative educators from across NYC Schools share their knowledge and
expertise with other educators from NYC, surrounding areas, and even around the
world thanks to social media. The conference is so popular, ittrends on Twitter.

There are dozens ofworkshops, lunchtime activities, and school reimagineer Jason
Green is our keynote speaker. It makes it hard to choose and even
harder to stay informed of all that is going on. But don’t despair. When
educators connect, everyone benefits and learns even if they aren’t able to
attend a particular session in person.

Tip 1 - Check out
the Agenda

At the #NYCSchoolsTech
Summit all workshops have a link to an agenda which you can find by viewing any
session in Livecube. #NYCSchoolsTech teacher and all
around nerd,Eileen Lennon offers a
hint that she has used before. “Scour the agenda beforehand for questions and
discussion points. If you’re ahead of the game, you get the most out of the
workshop and may even help steer the conversation in helpful ways.”

Tip 2 - Participate
in Backchannel Conversations

You can see where and
when all the backchannel conversations are taking place in Livecuberight here.
Introduce yourself and jump into the conversation.

Tip 3 - Moderate

Ask the presenter if
s/he would like you to moderate backchannel conversations and/or comments on
the livestream. Whether you're there f2f or remotely, just message the
presenter of a session you are interested in and offer your help.

Tip 4 - Hashtag
Happiness

Tip 5 - Follow the
Livestream

Presenters are encouraged
to livestream. When they do, we want them to post the link to the
workshop in Livecube. After the Summit you can visit the workshop schedule. There we encourage
presenters to update the sheet with a link to their livestream. If you're
presenting or helping the presenter, youcan read this
for some strategies to keep in mind.

Tip 6 - Follow The
Presenters

It goes without saying
to follow the presenters on Twitter and any other social media. They may have a
blog where they have shared their expertise in more detail. As innovative
educator Eileen Lennon says, “Learning doesn’t happen all in one day in a classroom,
neither should it from a one day summit. It’s the start of a journey. You might
as well take a map and a guide with you.” To make this easier you can visit the#NYCSchoolsTech Summit
presenters list.

Tip 7 - Session
Summary

Offer to capture the
session you attended via Wakelet. The moderator will be thankful.

Tip 8 - Share on
Social Media

Share what you are learning using
the session hashtag (found in Livecube), the conference hashtag
#NYCSchoolsTech, and your name.

What do you think? How do you plan
to connect at this year's #NYCSchoolTech Summit? We can't wait to share and
learn with you.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

There are many benefits of attending events as a team and learning together. Doing so successfully takes preparation, planning, and the right tools. If you are coordinating an event for you and others, the strategies, tools, and platforms below may help you do so successfully.

Facebook event

A Facebook event allowed those across New York City schools to find and/or inspire other colleagues to attend.

Face-to-face proposal writing session

Educators came together for a one-day session to create proposals to submit to the conference. More than a dozen educators presented as a result of the presentations submitted at this session.

MS Teams for planning and collaboration

Educators used an MS Team to share files, discuss how to volunteer to cover the cost of registration, sessions, and more.

Facebook group chat

During the conference we used an ongoing group chat to share what was worth seeing, events folks may want to attend, thoughts about the keynote, etc.

#NYCSchoolsTech buttons

One of the educators created a logo for our group and another turned them into pins that we all wore proudly during the conference.

Friend locator

The Friend Locator app enabled us to easily find each other throughout the conference.

Google Maps

We had customized Google Maps that indicated where we were all staying as well as important points of interest for conference goers.

Friday, July 12, 2019

Responsible social media use means being a good digital citizen. Good digital citizens know the importance of sharing inclusively. When you share inclusively, what you share is accessible to everyone. Not sure what that means? Mindy Johnson, Director of Digital Communications & Outreach for AEM Center & CAST, created a useful graphic that explains how to share accessibly.You can learn the specifics and find resources for each by visiting "Best Practices for Accessible Social Media."

Monday, July 8, 2019

More than two dozen educators from across New York City
schools experienced the benefits of team learning when they descended upon
Philadelphia, PA for the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) conference.

You can read the insights of these attendees below to discover the benefits they realized as a result of
participating in events as a team. If you like what they shared you can click on their name to learn more about them and follow them on Twitter.

Better Together

Being together as a NYCDOE team made such a difference. The discussions went on all day and night about how we can all be better. I loved being part of our team. It made ISTE 100 times better.

Supportive Environment

I felt
supported and welcome in the group. The conference was not isolating or
overwhelming like I imagined, I had a group of people I could turn to when I
needed help, directions, advice, session ideas. ISTE with #NYCSchoolsTech
inspired me more than anything else in my teaching career.

We had
in depth discussions that I would not have had with strangers- the tech trends
we foresee in NYC, different ways to foster community among teachers, and how
to implement more digital inclusion in our practice.

A Part of Something Bigger

Making District-Specific Meaning

It was
most important to turn to my colleagues and say ”what do you think of this...
in nyc?” To grow we need to collaborate on a level beyond the day to day. Being
there as a group helped us to do that.

Conferences
are a chance to learn from others and bring back actionable practices to your
school, but attending as a group is so much more fulfilling. At one point I
mentioned something I was considering doing at my school and was given advice
and model schools in NYC to look to for inspiration and best practices.

Benefits to Non-Attendees

Strengthen Relationships

Meeting
colleagues/collaborating from across the NYCDOE from our online PLN
(#NYCSchoolsTech group) in person helped me feel closer to the community, gave
me a sense of who to seek for crowdsourcing. There are so many incredibly
talented educators within this group each with a unique skill and
experience.

A Sense of Belonging

I
attended the last ISTE in Phili years ago, and felt very detached. This year,
it was the opposite. I felt closer to the whole Network of NYCDOE Tech people,
and to EdTech as a whole. I came back so much richer than I went.It also helped me clarify what I want to do
with the next phase of my career.

--Eric
Kollin

his was
my first ISTE and being a part of the group made this experience non-isolating
and helped expand our network to share ideas and resources.

Your Turn

What do
you think? Have you attended a learning opportunity with others? If so, did you
realize any of these benefits? Anything missing? What are some strategies
you’ve put in place for successful team learning?